your wishes consulted is to exalt and appreciate the other party. Did

you know that a man or woman will cheerfully sacrifice his or her own

opinions in order to retain the respect and love of the other? But if he

thinks the respect and love of the other party is growing less he will

give free reign to his own desires.

 

Married people "grow apart" for the one reason that they find fault with

each other. Of course it begins by their being disrespectful to each

other's faults, but it soon develops into disrespect of each other. From

"looking down" upon a husband's faults it is only a few short steps to

looking down upon him. His faults keep growing by recognition, and his

good points keep shrivelling for lack of notice, until in your mind

there is nothing left but faults. From trying to make him over you come

to despair, and give him up as an altogether bad job.

 

And there isn't a grain of sense in all this madness. Stick to the TRUTH

and you will get rid of the madness and the friction, too. The truth is

that your husband, or your wife, would be an egregious fool to follow

your judgments. You don't know beans from barley corn when it comes to

the actions of anybody but yourself. The One Spirit which enlightens

you as to your actions is also enlightening your other half as to

her actions; and do you suppose this Spirit is going to favor you

with better judgment about your other half's duties, than it has given

her? I guess not. Don't be presumptuous, my boy. Do you own little

best, and trust your other half to do hers. Trust that she is doing

the best.

 

And above all trust the One Spirit to run you both.

 

If you do this your wife will rise fast in your esteem. And the higher

she finds herself in your esteem the harder she will try to please you -

and rise higher.

 

And, girls, don't forget that the shoe fits equally well the other foot.

Either man or wife can bring harmony out of chaos simply by respecting

the other half and all his or her acts.

 

A marriage without "even a pinhead of bitterness" is a marriage without

a pin-point of fault-finding, mental or oral.